Facon gets special mention at Flickerfest and is included in Flickerfest National Tour!

Two updates from the festival front! Facon got a special mention at the Flickerfest Green Flicks section. Joshua Dang, Barbara Ings and I were thrilled to hear it, since there were really really good films in the section. Greenflicks was judged by Costa Georgiadis, Gregory Miller and Kate Harris. The judges praised Facon for its sense of humour dealing with environmental issues.

We’re also really happy about how well the film played at all the screenings. The Short Laughs Comedy sessions were sold out and it was great to be alongside such hilarious company!

Shaun Colnan, who starred as Travis, makes a short speech after Facon receives an honourable mention at the closing night awards ceremony. 

The other great news is that Facon has been chosen to tour nationally. The full tour dates can be seen here.

Me (Writer / Producer), Barbara Ings (Producer), Jane Watt (Tia), Costa Georgiadis (Greenflicks Judge), Shaun Colnan (Travis) and Kate Harris (Greenflicks Judge) at the Flickerfest Closing Night. Facon director Joshua Dang was sadly unable to attend.

Shaun Colnan (Travis), Barbara Ings (Producer), Me (Writer / Producer) and Jane Watt (Tia) at the Flickerfest Closing Night. Director Joshua Dang was sadly unable to attend.

March Opportunities

There are lots of opportunities for emerging writers and theatre makers at the moment. Playwriting Australia has made a callout for Dramaturgy Interns. These interns will recieve ‘access to training and mentoring by industry professionals, and get to develop their practical skills in script assessment and explore the process of giving dramaturgical feedback.’

The internship is available to Sydney and Melbourne based playwrights, directors or dramaturgs. Applications close Monday the 24th of March, 5pm.

Additionally, there has been a call out for applications for the Monash Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing. The award is open to emerging writers enrolled in either an undergraduate or honours degree. For the first year ever, the award is open to both students from Australia and New Zealand.

First prize is $4000. The highest placed student from Monash University will receive $1000. Both winners will be published in Verge, Monash University’s student publication. Entries have to be 1500–3000 words. Applications close Thursday the 17th of April.

Word Travels Festival – NSW Australian Poetry Slam Final

Luka Lesson hosting with charm and charisma, and a surprising level of talk about shoes.

The NSW Final of The Australian Poetry Slam was held on Friday the 11^th of October, as part of The Word Travels Festival. There were feature performances by Joel McKerrow and the highly sexual Ghostboy. Luka Lesson hosted the event with charm and charisma. Thomas Hill took home the NSW title with an evocative poem about abuse. Second place was a tie, resulting in a slam off between Newcastle based Jesse Brand and Bankstown based Zohab Khan. After a fierce battle it was Jesse Brand who progressed to the Australian Finals alongside Thomas Hill.

Shortlisted for Monash University Undergraduate Prize

A month ago I was shortlisted for the EWF Monash University Undergraduate Prize. It was a huge honour to be shortlisted and I’m very excited to announce that my short story ‘Home’ is now available in an ebook published by Penguin. The ebook is called Promise: Monash University Undergraduate Prize Shortlist and has only recently gone live. Have a look! A big thanks to Emerging Writers’ Festival and Monash University, I feel incredibly encouraged and feel just a little more confident calling myself an emerging writer.

You can read it or buy it through The Penguin Site, Apple, Amazon or Google.

Spirit of Youth Awards

The Spirit of Youth Awards is a competition held by Qantas that helps emerging artists in 11 key creative disciplines including interactive gaming, music, writing, film making, architecture and more. The competition has been held for over eight years and has helped many talents develop. The winner of each category receives a mentorship and $5000 of air travel to follow their creative dreams.

This is my second year entering the written word category and I find myself sitting amongst some pretty amazing entries. Included is the work of Alli Sebastion Wolf, Patrick Lenton, Angela Meyer, Tom Hogan, Ava Karuso and Jess Messenger. The competition is a great opportunity to see the portfolios of many rising stars of the literature world. Below is my own entry which I would love you to comment on and like.

http://www.soya.com.au/entrant/felicity-pickering/